A program to send humans to the Moon with four launches of Angara carrier rockets will cost 400 billion rubles (about $5.4 billion), Roscosmos Executive Director for Long-Term Programs and Science Aleksandr Bloshenko said on Monday. This reported by TASS.

"A version of a four-launch scheme [for the flight] to the Moon is available. It will require a hydrogen-powered Angara, which we are going to create in any case. By distributing financial costs, we get the figure of about 0.4 trillion [rubles]," Bloshenko said.

This program envisages using a lighter version of the Oryol spacecraft called Orlyonok. The relevant subprogram has been designed and will be submitted to the Russian government in June, the Roscosmos official said.

This version of the program is an attempt "to further optimize the cost and subsequently channel the funds for developing a super-heavy carrier system based on other technological principles," Bloshenko said, adding that Roscosmos had to use existing technologies in its current heavy carrier version as it was pressed for time.